Without a Trace
by schaefy
Summary: Life is certainly more interesting with Steph and Sammy around at Rangeman, but a few months later they've disappeared without a trace. Where are they? Can Ranger find them in time? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Just a random idea floating around in my head this afternoon. I hope you enjoy it!

Schaefy

PS: There is actually a storyline to this. Surprising isn't it?

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except Sam and the plot. Tear.

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It was dead quiet in my apartment, everything was still. I looked at my alarm clock. Two am. I sighed into my pillow and turned over. I was exhausted beyond anything I had been since my Ranger's days. I had not slept through the night for three months now. Had not slept more than two or three hours in weeks. All because she was gone. Disappeared. Without a trace. I had no idea how to find her. And it was killing me slowly. Like slow torture.

I pulled myself out of bed and onto the treadmill I had placed in the corner of the room. I spent all my time here now, closer than the Batcave if any news came through. But none had. I never gave up hope though. Because that… would be worse than what I had been through in the last few months. Giving up hope was letting her go. And I couldn't do that. Like ending what we had before it had begun. I pounded three miles on the treadmill and upped the speed to five minute miles. I receded back into myself, into my zone, blocking out the discomfort and pain of the hard exercise, pushing myself harder and harder, trying to escape my feelings. I don't know how much time had passed but the display said I had run seventeen miles. Not bad for the two in the morning. I grabbed the towel hanging off the handles and wiped the sweat from my face, controlling my breathing so it became normal and unhurried. I suddenly noticed my phone was ringing loudly on my bedside table. I hesitated. Could it be news? Could she be alive? I dared to dream, slamming my towel onto the floor and lunging for the phone; not even bothering to look at caller ID.

A whispered voice came from the phone as I picked it up, nervous and tense.

"Help me Batman."

Oh my God.

0 0 0

_Five Months Earlier_

"Sam stop! You can't!"

She looked at me cheekily, adventure and daring in her eyes.

"I can too! You just watch me if you're too chicken!"

I hesitated, then giggled, and grabbed a permanent marker from my desk and crept along behind Sam. She was laughing her head of silently, creeping towards Tank who was reclining in his office chair, snoring slightly. Poor Tankie had had a late night. And a sleeping pill or two in his coffee this morning. We just don't know what to do with him.

Nothing could wake him now but if he woke and found us, we would probably be condemned to monitor duty for the next twenty years, so it didn't hurt to be careful. Then again he was going to find out sometime, so that was probably an inevitable event.

I quietly shut the door behind me so no one else would see (Even though we had cleared it with Bobby, Lester and the rest of the control room), and uncapped my marker, clapping a hand over my mouth to stop me laughing. Sam looked at me, then nodded, a mischievous grin on her face. And started to draw on Tank's face. With permanent marker.

The end result was really very pretty and we took several Polaroids and photos of our combined art to flash around the control room. Tank now had very black and permanent eye shadow on his eyelids, thick round glasses drawn onto his face, gigantic Elvis side burns and a marker beard drawn on his face. That's not to mention the huge "TANK" written across his forehead, the flowers drawn on his earlobes, and the numerous "Tankie-poo's" and "Pierre's" and other assorted names written across his cheeks and forehead. Oh and did I mention the moustache? A real soup strainer. Would make any decent moustache grower proud.

We threw the markers out of the window to destroy the evidence against us (we weren't quite sure if Tank would go that far as to actually fingerprint it, but it definitely wasn't out of the question after what was going to happen), and ran from the room, finally bursting into fits of uncontrollable laughter when we reached the control room floor. Sammy and I clutched each others shoulders, tears running down our faces as the guys stood around us, wondering about our unbelievable nerve and yelling at us to tell them what we had drawn on Tank. Still incapacitated by silent laughter I held up the Polaroids we had taken. The entire control room was silent for a second, then every single one of the merry men was holding onto each other for dear life, laughing fit to burst at what we had done.

After five minutes I was finally able to stem the flow of tears and hold back my laughter long enough to remove the headcam I was wearing (filming everything we had done of course. Hmm… we were going to have to protect that film. It may or may not be rock solid evidence.) and shout for everyone to be quiet.

"Guys! Shut up! He'll be awake soon and he has a meeting in half an hour with Tom Gibbs and Ranger which he absolutely _has_ to have his make up on for, so shut up or you'll give us away! Go back to work and pretend nothing has happened and for God's sake don't look at him too obviously! If anyone gives us away Sammy and I will personally make them pay, and I promise you, it _won't_ be pretty. We'll send you the photo's and footage later – and make sure you make multiple copies onto home laptops or computers in case Tank makes the IT guys check and delete the files like they did with Junior's pics. (Long story short, another prank, another photo, the IT guys deleted the file from every single computer in Rangeman. Man, that sucked. It was the shit.) Go!! He should be up any minute. And I've cleared this with Ranger already. I may not have given him every tiny detail but I'm sure he'll be fine with it."

In other words I told him not to say anything to Tank if he looked strange. Nothing more. Ranger would be as shocked as Tank. We'd set up extra cameras in the board room to catch his expression. Pure gold I say.)

The guys dispersed and Sam and I walked over to our adjoined desks in the corner of the room, and I hid the tape from the headcam down my bra. What can I say? No one will ever find it. I pulled out some files and pretended to look busy, while looking covertly at Sammy who was opposite me for the sign that Tank was coming. I was half absorbed in the file ten minutes later and I only noticed the second cough from Sam a second or so after. The control room seemed normal, normal noise, chatting, typing, printing, writing; but as Tank passed by on the way to the elevator I saw the guys taking covert looks at him and quickly stifling their laughter. He was rubbing the sleep from his (unknown to him) drawn-on face as he got into the elevator, wondering why all of a sudden everyone was so intent on their work.

Once the doors had closed the guys looked as though they were going to laugh. I sent a panicked look at Sam. If they laughed now, Tank would hear them. She yelled 'Hey!' at everyone. Then she counted down from five with her fingers, while motioning the guys to be quiet. As soon as she reached zero there was silence. Then a strangled shout from the elevator.

"AHHHHH!!!"

Silence. Then…

"I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL THOSE TWO!"

Funny stuff.

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	2. Chapter 2

Ranger's POV

I smiled slightly and stood as Gibbs entered the room, followed by Tank; his head bowed and making a show of turning away from everyone. Tom had been an old friend from the army who had helped me get back in shape when I was still messed up from my teenage years. He now employed our security for his house and company and came for half yearly meetings to review it. Tom ran a company developing important computer technology for the government and other high flying private firms so naturally security was the highest priority. Tom and I were still good friends now and often met at important dinners or other social functions hosted by the government, clients or generally high profile events. He clapped my shoulder and we did the manly hug thing, then sat down in the armchairs at one end of the room. Tank was still facing the door and I suddenly remembered what Steph had said to me that morning.

_She leaned close, her body pressed to mine in all the strategic places._

"_Hey do me a favour today. When Tank comes in to the Gibbs meeting, pretend nothing is out of the ordinary. Please?"_

_Her lips brushed softly against mine, her fingers playing with my hair as she waited for my answer. I gave her a rare full on smile, leaned forward and gently nipped her ear as she giggled._

"_Practising for the distraction job tonight Babe?"_

_She rolled her eyes at me but smiled still, no longer acting._

"_Please? Sammy and I have plans."_

"_Like what you did to Junior?"_

_Her eyes filled with mischief at the mention of the Junior incident as it had been named and her smile widened at the memory._

"_Better."_

_I laughed softly and kissed her for a second._

"_I won't say anything."_

_Then I kissed her again, our tongues touching, her fists knotted in her hair._

_Doesn't get much better than this, I thought._

Having Steph and Sam working at Rangeman together definitely made life infinitely more interesting, and quite possibly more enjoyable. Paired with Lester, the Rangeman clown, they had wreaked havoc wherever they could, the most famous prank being what happened to Junior. Even I had laughed when I saw what they had done. It was fucking hilarious.

But they were definitely a valuable asset to Rangeman, not only having two permanent employees available for distraction jobs (together they were unbeatable at it), but they knew how to have fun and then immediately switch to work mode. They were both serious about the jobs and work they did, and together got through more in one day than half of Rangeman. Which meant they had a lot of spare time in the building, which was generally spent laughing, pulling pranks or in the gym.

Sam, or Johnny after her surname, had been her own entity growing up on the streets and was twice as tough as half the guys out there. She had not really needed Rangeman training but got it anyway before she left for College. She had worked as a mechanical engineer in Formula 1 Racing for about five years then returned to Trenton after a season one year, met Steph and never gone back. She had gone through training again with Steph who by now was at her standard, and they had begun working together at Rangeman doing computer searches, working on skips and distraction jobs. Sam and Steph now shared a house a couple of streets from Rangeman which naturally had lots of security, all installed by the girls.

I suddenly noticed Tom was saying something and quickly tuned in to the conversation.

"So how is Rangeman going, everything alright?"

"Fine. We have two new trouble makers on the control room floor who have been pulling pranks on everyone. It makes life interesting." I said with a full on smile at Tom, nodding to Tank who was still facing the door, trying to retain his dignity after whatever the girls had done.

"I'll show them fucking interesting…" Tank mumbled under his breath. I grinned again at Tom and he tipped me a wink, then spoke to Tank.

"How've you been Tank? Ranger not working you too hard?"

Tank was forced to turn around, so as not to be rude. My smile only widened as I saw what they had done. His face was completely tattooed with flowers and words in permanent marker, and his expression could kill someone. Tom had the sense not to laugh out loud but coughed a little when he saw the Tank art.

"Not my fucking fault. It was Steph and Sam. They gave me sleeping pills." He growled, his fists clenching involuntarily, knuckles cracking.

"You haven't by chance admired it by all angles have you?" said Tom innocently, his smile unfazed by Tank's anger. Tank blanched. Hmm, I hadn't known that was possible. You learn something every day.

"What." He said through clenched teeth.

Tom looked on, unconcernedly flicking through a file in front of him.

"Well if I am correct they may possibly have signed their artwork." His gaze met Tanks then, smiling sweetly as Tank glowered.

"Where." Tank growled again, running his hands over his bald head.

"On back of your head."

I thought Tank might break something.

0 0 0

The meeting ended half an hour later and Tank rushed out as soon as Tom and I had gotten up, a menacing look on his face. Smiling I dialled Steph on my phone.

"Hey."

"Tank's on the rampage. He knows."

I heard her swear and laugh, then the sound of running footsteps as she and Sammy ran for it.

"Catchya later Batman! I'm charging you with organising our funerals, Tank is gonna rip us to pieces! Gotta Blast!" she ripped off the stupid kids TV show line, laughed and hung up. I could hear Tanks heavy footsteps in the background.

I just grinned at Tom and escorted him back down to his car.

Life was just so much better wit the girls around.

0 0 0

Sam's POV

When Ranger called Steph we had dropped everything and run. Unfortunately there are no fucking hiding places in Rangeman, so we went down to the fourth floor where our Rangeman apartment was, snuck into Lester's instead and locked ourselves in a cupboard. So here we are twenty minutes later, still stifling giggles and stepping on each others toes. We practically had to hug each other fit it into the cupboard, but we were both pretty thin so it was all good.

"I reckon we should wait for ten minutes then switch hiding places. Tank's gonna find us, we've used this before!"

"Ok but let's go to Bobby's next though, we've used everyone else's already."

So we waited some more, the thrill of the chase pumping adrenaline through my veins. I had just unlocked the cupboard door to get out when I heard the front door of Lester's apartment slowly creak open, and Tank sized footsteps walking down the hall right next to us. He did a quick walkthrough of the apartment, his footsteps muffled slightly as he checked each room quickly, then stood right next to our cupboard again, his breathing audible through the wooden door. Silence.

Oh shit.

We both screamed as the doors flew open to a very angry Tank, smelling strongly of turps, his face rubbed raw from whatever he had used to get the marker off. He grabbed us both with one arm each, flung us over his shoulders and left the apartment, slamming the door shut with his foot. Normally this would have been a little harder but we were both laughing so hard we were completely incapacitated, tears running down our cheeks. Tank hauled us down the stairs and out onto the street, people giving us strange looks as we passed. Finally he stopped next to a street lamp on the corner, set Steph down and cuffed her to the lamp. She sank to the ground laughing harder than ever as I was cuffed to it as well, sticking my tongue out at Tank as he secured me. Then he brought out a roll of tape from his pocket, took out the key to the cuffs… and taped it to my forehead. I was actually speechless as he stood back, grinning widely and admiring his work. The fucking asshole! Then the prat actually got out a camera and started taking pictures of us, chained to the lamp post. He was laughing by the time he finished, and gave us a salute before walking back up the street to Rangeman.

"You arrogant Bastard! You fucking prick! You… You…!"

Between my outrage and laughter it was hard to think of insults which rightly fitted the heinousness of his crime. He turned back for one last look and a photo then went back inside. People were walking past us giving us a wide berth as they went up and down the street. I looked at Rangeman. I looked at Steph. We burst out laughing. It was just so fucking hilarious.

Our laughter subsided eventually, leaving us with huge grins on our faces, then Steph turned to me with a matter of fact voice.

"Well, I suppose we'd better do something if we're stuck here for," she looked at her watch. "Four hours."

That was our usual length of punishment when people locked us in places. We looked at each other and grinned. Then broke into song in unison.

One thousand bottles of beer on the wall, one thousand bottles of beer. You take one down and pass it around, nine hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall!"

Our standard cure for boredom when locked in places.


	3. Chapter 3

Steph's POV

_Steph_

Four hours later we were still singing loudly, cuffed to the stupid lamp post, down to just fifty-three bottles of beer on the wall. It was six o clock by now, and our distraction job started at ten but we had to be in place by nine thirty. We paused for a second between forty seven and forty six, starting to get slightly anxious about the job.

"They're going to have of let us off this leash soon otherwise we won't be able to get ready in time." I said, looking slightly thoughtfully toward Rangeman.

Sammy snorted slightly, a huge grin on her face. "They're men—they don't understand about female preparation times…" she sighed theatrically, only the sparkle in her eye betraying her laughter. "Men…"

I giggled, then the light of mischief glittered in my eye. Sammy saw it and her grin widened. She knew soon enough we were going to be up to no good.

"You know Sammy I hate to say it but I'm a little fed up with this lamp post don't you think?" I said with a prissy English accent.

"Oh I quite agree Stephanie dear! I do believe that the railing next to the Burger Shop would be a much nicer spot to be incarcerated don't you? People might feel sorry for us and buy us food." She answered, effortlessly mastering the accent I had used.

"In short, let's blow this joint!" I laughed at her abrupt return to her normal self.

"I totally agree. But I think that more than four hours was too long don't you? Way not fair. The boys need a lesson taught to them. They think they can keep us in one place for more than the normal punishment time. I think a little practical joke is in order don't you?"

"Oh, I quite agree. I do believe you have something in mind dear friend. What has that evil mind of yours concocted?" My grin widened as I run through my plan in my head again. This was going to be gold.

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_Sammy_

I yanked clothes quickly out of my closet, grabbing my sparkly gold clubbing dress, a pair of four inch FMP's and quickly stuffing them into my Rangeman sports bag on top of mine and Steph's make up collection. We were so alike in skin tone and make up tastes that we just used each others instead of buying two of everything. I sprinted over to Steph's wardrobe and threw the doors open, digging through it till I got to her slut outfits. I literally had five minutes till I had to be down on the street for Steph to pick me up and I had to get our gear together for the plan as well as our clothes for the club tonight.

Finally I found her collection of slutty clothes and began ruffling through it, looking for the silver dress Steph had requested. I found it quickly but as I pulled it out of the wardrobe I spotted another dress behind it. Just one more. It was beautiful- sophisticated and sexy, a tight fitting gunmetal grey bodice and short, flowing loose skirt. The whole dress was covered by a delicate black lace separate from the grey material beneath. It had a halter neck tied at the base of the neck, which would emphasise Steph's modest chest, and flowed out into a nice length skirt with layers of tuille. It was a truly beautiful dress, and I knew she would look fantastic in it. I looked at the silver dress I was holding in my arms. It was a typical clubbing dress; tight, revealing and slutty. She would look great in it. A second's deliberation, then I stuffed one of the dresses back into the wardrobe, grabbed a pair of FMP's from the floor and sprinted out of our apartment, stuffing them into the Rangeman bag. I had seen the way she looked at Ranger, and the way he stared at her. She could make him laugh harder than anyone else, she could pull him out of a bad mood within seconds of her appearance. He could stop her tears as soon as he put his arms around him, he could make her happier just by his presence than anyone else but me. But they were wasting time. Neither of them would make a move – they were too afraid of rejection. I grinned mischievously to myself.

Maybe they just needed someone to play cupid?

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_Steph_

"SAMMY!" I yelled. She looked up at me innocently as she shimmied into her dress, batting her eyelashes.

"What Steph?" she said sweetly.

"YOU PACKED THE WRONG FUCKING DRESS!!" I yelled at her, holding the offending dress at arms length in front of me. I wasn't really that pissed, I just wasn't really secure wearing this dress. It was really sophisticated and screamed "sexy", but I wasn't sure if I could do it justice. I did sexy in dresses that were sparkly, short and didn't cover much. With lots of putting it out there and seductive smiles. This dress was meant for someone who had sexy ingrained in everything they did, who was sophisticated and subtle. I wasn't any of those things. It was like… like the equivalent of Ranger's black tailored suit. Ranger had sexy built into him-- he didn't have to try to be sexy, he just was. He was sophisticated and showed his emotions not through fake laughs and fake words, but through the look in his eye, and the hint of a smile on the corner of his mouth. He was built for that suit; it just made him… perfect. He was perfect in that suit. This dress was asking me to be the female equivalent of Ranger, and I was never sure I could do it. Besides, we were going to a club called "La Pacifico" in Trenton's Latin Quarter, and all the clubs there were the same. Hot, sexy and full of the "beautiful people" in short skimpy, sparkly dresses. Everything I wasn't. I groaned as I thought this and sank down onto my bed behind me. We didn't have time to go back and grab another dress if we were going to do this, and the only dresses I had here at home weren't slutty enough for distraction. I made a face. I was screwed.

Sammy sat down on the edge of the bed as she poked a second dangly gold earring into her ear, then took the dress gently from my hands. Her face was for once not bellowing with laughter or filled with some unknown mischief, just calmly smiling a little as she looked at me. She held up the dress for me to see properly.

"Just look at it for a second Steph. Think of what this dress will look like when you put it on." She said quietly, her eyes relaxed and slightly knowing. "Which would you rather be; the sparkly slut who puts it out there, or the sophisticated girl that everyone watches?"

I looked into her eyes, the sincere expression penetrating my conscience. Maybe I could be more than just another slut. But… my doubt knitted my brow together as I struggled with my confidence. Sammy didn't miss a thing.

"Think about it Steph. Think about how good this will look next to Ranger on the dance floor. Think about how much more he'll admire you for rising above the rest of the girls. You can pull off this dress, I know you can. You just have to relax."

I gently took the dress from her and stared at it for a second. Then I nodded. She was right. I could pull it off.

0 0 0

_Sammy_

I breathed an internal sigh of relief when Steph nodded at me. I had always known she would wear it in the end, she'd been itching to wear it for weeks now. She just lacked the confidence. I shot her a grin, grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the bathroom.

"I get to do your make up though!" I heard Steph laughing behind me as I dragged her across the room and set to work as I sat her down on the stool we kept in there.

Two hours later it was quarter to nine, and we had to leave now, or we'd never make it in time. I'd left Steph to her own devices in the bathroom, fixing her dress and her make up and getting her hardware together. It was impossible to carry a gun under our dresses, but we both kept a small knife… somewhere. Kidding, it was slipped into the false side of our clutches, where we had guns and stun guns as well. I grabbed the extra sports bag I had packed with gear for our prank and my clutch from my room and then went to bang on the door to get Steph out.

"Steph, come one we have to go! We'll never get there in time if we—"

I stopped dead. The door had slowly swung open, revealing Steph, leaning on the door.

"Holy Mary Mother of God."

Steph was the new batgirl.

0 0 0

She looked stunning. More than stunning. She looked fantastic.

'_**Holy**_ _**shit**_.' I thought as I looked her up and down 'Batman's gonna freaking melt when he sees her!'

The dress fitted her like a glove, the halter neck top emphasising the soft curve of her breasts as it dipped slightly at the front showing just enough cleavage. The dress clung to her waist and hips as it fell to a few inches above her knee, showing off her great legs. The back of the dressed plunged sharply to about halfway down her back, melting into the skirt which flowed out just a little so it would spin as she danced. Her make up was flawless, not even a little overdone. Her eyes were surrounded by smokey kohl with a hint of red mixed in there to match her dark red lipstick. Her curls were soft and tight, pinned back ever so slightly on each side of her head with diamante pins, sparkling like the small spiralling earrings she wore through her ears. A smokey silver stud matching her eyes had been put in her piercing half way up her right ear. Her legs gave off a slight glitter as she moved from the body lotion she had put on, her feet rising sharply out of 3 inch smokey grey stilettos with a few diamantes studded over the straps. A simple twist of silver hung from a delicate necklace around her neck, showing off her beautiful neckline and her thin waist.

She looked totally relaxed and in control as she stepped out of the doorway onto the suspended landing, her mouth curved in an almost smile.

I grinned at her as she passed, catching the flash of her smile as she acknowledged my approval. God, if Batman got hold of her alone tonight they were going to need a hell of a lot of Hail Mary's to redeem themselves tomorrow.

I laughed softly to myself and descended the stairs after her, hoisting the sports bag higher onto my shoulder. This was going to be a fun night.

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Author's Note: Hope you enjoy this chapter, spent ages trying to get it right. I'm not write sure I did—leave a review and tell me what you think.

Schaefy

_**My muse appreciates lots of reviews. Greedy little bugger.**_


	4. Chapter 4

Meet tank and ranger there – rangers pov out of the window watching tank find out mooner and dougie were cuffed to the lamp post instead of steph and sammy

Author's Note: Hey all, thanks for the great reception to the last chapter—glad to see you've stuck with it through the last few weeks of no updates! I hope you enjoy this chapter which is a bit shorter than the last chapter—ran out of time again. Hope you enjoy and as always, _**REVIEW!**_

Cheers,

Schaefy

0 0 0

_Tank_

_Earlier that afternoon_

I checked my watch as I stood behind Hal at the monitors, watching a couple of kids passing the front door of Rangeman. I grinned to myself as I looked out the window at the two figures cuffed to the lamppost far below, stifling a chuckle as I strode off to the stairwell. Victory is mine! The girls had always prided themselves on being able to escape anything, and only stayed in their "punishment places" because they knew whoever had locked them there would get revenge if they left before their four hours were up. It was six thirty by now and the sun was starting to set—half an hour over their four hour period. I had been able to mock them, get revenge _and_ keep them locked up for more than four hours all in one go! I grinned.

Revenge was _so_ sweet.

0 0 0

_Ranger_

I was just finishing up some paper work before heading up to my apartment when the phone rang on my desk.

"Yo."

I heard Hal's quietly amused voice on the other end of the line.

"Ranger, Tanks just gone to get the girls. They left half an hour ago, you gotta see this—his head swollen so much from his "success" I was suffocating in the same room."

The corner of my mouth turned up as I replaced the phone on the cradle and made my way out to the control room. Hal as well as everyone else in the entire building were leaning out of the windows all over the control room, watching as Tank emerged onto the street, grinning broadly, his chest thrown out proudly as he made a beeline for the two figures dressed in black, still cuffed to the lamp post. I grinned to myself as I watched him walk swiftly through the parting crowd, his ego so inflated by his supposed success that he couldn't even keep up his badass image. Man, this was gonna be bad for business. Or at lest Tank's image. But who cares about that?

I laughed silently to myself. This was going to be the biggest let down of the century.

"Is anyone filming this?" I asked the general populace as Tank actually started _bouncing on the balls of his feet as he walked_. I felt the sudden urge to slap my forehead. Ohh man, this was gonna be hilarious.

"We've got CCTV cameras at both ends of the street, Bobby's over at Sal's Burger Joint and Manny's mingling with the crowd. Both have cameras and microphones. Couple of handhelds are filming from the windows. I also stuck a microphone on Tank while he wasn't looking; I'm putting the feed on speaker now."

I nodded appreciatively and listened as the rustle of Tanks clothing came out of the speakers. Tank had just reached the lamp post, and was standing over the pair of figures chained to it.

"So girls, learnt your lesson yet? Fucking texta, I figured that because you knew I had a meeting I had to attend while I had it on you deserved an extra half hour or so. Looks like you had to stick it out now didn't you…" He did a huge fake sigh right into the microphone and the guys started snorting with laughter. Sweet Jesus, Tank was digging himself into a giant hole. I grinned for a second, than a strange thought occurred to me.

"If that's not Steph and Sammy, then who—"

Tank's voice boomed out into the room again as I watched him down on the street.

"Looks like you couldn't get out of it this time could you?" Tank was full on laughing now at his amazing feat of incarceration, deafening us through the speakers. The two figures on the ground seemed to be shaking now and suddenly they turned their faces up to Tank.

"Sorry big dude, but they didn't think the extra half hour was fair. They left aaages ago man. You're waaaay behind the times."

The guys burst out with laughter.

Holy shit.

It was Mooner and Dougie.

0 0 0

Half an hour later we were looking over the images of the lapel camera we had put on Mooner, the guys having completely lost control. Lester had dropped out of his chair and was rolling around the floor, clutching his stomach as Tank's booming voice came from the speakers.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" He then went on to string together some of the most creative expletives I had ever heard in both English and Spanish as he yelled at nothing in particular. People around the street were visibly running away in the background and crossing to the other side of the street as he screamed.

Yes. Tank Screamed.

It was quite amusing.

Mooner and Dougie were shitting themselves laughing as Tank stomped around, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, spit flying everywhere, face wild.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? I'M GONNA KILL THOSE TWO; I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL 'EM! THOSE.. THOSE… ARROGANT PRICKS, THE FUCKING BASTARDS…" I noticed the use of Sammy's insults which had been used against Tank himself. With a sudden stroke of inspiration, I had whipped out my phone and pressed 2 on speed dial. A second later Tank had picked up as I put it on loudspeaker so the packed room could hear.

"What."

He was pretty pissed.

"You should get your own lines man."

"What?" He sounded annoyed, but slightly confused all the same.

"I distinctly remember Sammy using those exact insults against you this afternoon. You should really get you own lines man."

I heard an anguished yell from the street and the sound of something smashing down on the street. The line went dead. Looks like Tank lost control and smashed his phone again.

I really should talk to him about that.

0 0 0

The various angles of Tank's tantrum were played for the rest of the evening, the guys on the night shift nearly shitting themselves before they had even sat down at the monitors. Tank had slammed up the stairwell and bypassed the control room, still bursting with laughter, to bang his way to his fourth floor apartment.

Manny, who had been down on the street with a camera choose that moment to say:

"Talk about anger management!"

It was pretty downhill from there.

Hal was rolling around in his seat, clutching his sides while Bobby clung on to the back for dear life, trying to stay standing. Lester had lost all pretence of control and was stilling rolling around the floor, the rest of the guys gripping each other and other items of furniture around the office, nearly killing themselves laughing. Even Hector was grinning broadly as he printed off a dozen A4 stills of Tank's face looking quite mad and handing them out to the guys, as well as sticking them around the control room. I grabbed the mouse he had been working with and scrolled through the frames of video footage until I reached my favourite part. Tanks head was in the middle of the shot from the lapel camera, phone to his ear as I told him to get his own line. His mouth was stretched open to it's fullest capacity, his eyes bulging with incredulity, eyebrows nearly disappearing from his forehead onto his bald head. He looked rather like a gob-smacked goldfish. We're talking about Tank here—big, black, muscular ex army guy; with the ability to make even the toughest crimelords quake in their boots.

As you can imagine, it looked pretty fucking funny.

I snorted with laughter and printed off an A3 copy of the picture, and calmly walked over to the pinboard we reserved for current FTA's and criminals. Then I pinned it over everything, dead centre of the board, grabbed a whiteboard marker and wrote on the whiteboard next to it:

"BEWARE THE TANK SIZED GOLDFISH. LETHAL TO ALL BY THE NAMES OF STEPH AND SAMMY."

The guys were pissing themselves.

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You like? Sorry I had to cut it short—have to get up at quarter to six tomorrow. Tear. How sad.

Reviews spread the love.

You love me right?

Lol, Schaefy


	5. Chapter 5

Meet tank and ranger there – rangers pov out of the window watching tank find out mooner and dougie were cuffed to the lamp post instead of steph and sammy

_Stephanie_

"You got everything we need Steph?" Sammy asked as she effortlessly merged into the traffic— the Porsche's engine purred into the dusk. Shortly after she had arrived in Trenton, Ranger had decided we needed a "distraction car". So he bought us a black Lotus Elise 72 with yellow and black buttery soft leather seats, and gold rims that sat under a convertible hood. I nearly had an orgasm the first time I sat in it, and I could tell something similar was happening to Sammy. Man the car was like… it was like God on wheels. The car was fucking hot.

I checked through the Rangeman sports bag I had lying on my feet.

"Tutu. Check. Tiara. Check. Cuffs. Check. Camera. Check. Video Camera. Polaroid Camera. Check. Everything's here. Lets rock this joint!" I grinned. As we pulled up the street to the club, an unmistakable black Porsche Turbo was already being taken away by the Valets in the driveway. I was really pumped for this takedown—an easy one if we're going by Rangeman standards. The FTA's name was Chris Marchetta— 28, charged with possession with intention to sell, illegal arms and carrying concealed. He was famous singer in the Italian quarter of Trenton as well as throughout the rest of Jersey. Marchetta was a known local celebrity, hell you can even call him a legend. By all reports he was quite an easy guy in every way so I was hoping we could get him early, and then convince the guys to stay and party with us tonight.

This was crucial for our payback for Tank, we needed them there to laugh and anyway it had been ages since we had had a Rangeman clubbing night. At least not since the night of the Junior incident— and that was over 4 months ago! Man, we were way overdue for some fun! Well.. at least the boys were. Sammy and I went out clubbing a couple of times a month as well as distraction jobs so we were all good. Then there's the practical jokes we play at work and the hours we spend clutching each other and giggling, hiding from someone or another—whoever was after our blood for that hour. Someone new would come for the next hour and the game would begin again. It was quite entertaining.

The club was relatively new—only a few months old, but it had gained an excellent reputation, especially for its' music. Plus, the fact that it was Friday night meant that the line for the club was about a mile long, filled with people who weren't hot enough, thin enough, rich enough or famous enough to get through.

I smirked slightly as we drove through the semi circular driveway, and pulled up to the door, Sammy revving the engine slightly. The hundred people outside the door turned and gawked at us in absolute shock. An awesomely sexy car and two confident, sexy girls sitting inside? Was this real or a hallucination? I saw more than one guy shift uncomfortably as their pants began to tighten slightly. I snorted. This was getting ridiculous. Well I guess it was better than the supposed "bounty hunters" that had come through for interviews for a skip-tracing job. More than one of them had had a boner just showing us his gun. Sammy heard my snort and flashed me a knowing smile, before pulling up to the door.

"Let's rock girlfriend!" She said, grinning at me again, a little mischief entering her look now. Sammy got out of the car, grabbed her clutch and walked over to the valet, swinging her hips so every guy in the vicinity (and some who weren't—there was more than one guy gawking from his car, stopped dead in the middle of the four lane road outside) was being mesmerised by the motion of her butt in her short dress. A bit more uncomfortable shifting from the guys. I nearly snorted again. I grabbed my clutch but left the sports bag in the car, we wouldn't need it till later, opened the convertible's door and stepped out.

Immediately, there was a hush through the crowd and everyone was staring at me. The girls critically eying up competition, the guys simply gawking, even more than when Sammy got out of the car. I was slightly nervous as I closed the door, looking up slightly uncertainly at Sammy. She had a smile on her face, her eyes warm with pride. She was proud of me. A small smile graced my lips, making my entire face light up with a warm glow, and walked gracefully to Sammy, the crowds parting as I made my way through. As I reached her she gave me a quick hug.

"You were incredible. Blow him away, ok?" she whispered in my ear and I smiled again, all nervousness gone. We linked elbows as the bouncers ushered us in and we walked into the club, the live salsa music washing over us.

The club was different to any one I had ever been to before, and as soon as I walked in the door I immediately loved it. The design was …_amazing_. Hands down the most creative club I had ever seen. The dance floor was sunken and suspended by metal wire, steps leading up to the bar, which lined the entire four walls. There was a suspended walkway above with people dancing and drinking, doors leading off the to the private function rooms. The whole club was lit with soft atmospheric lighting, from beneath the floor and along the walls, creating pools of light and leaving the rest of the club in a semi darkness, which was surprisingly sexy. I smiled at Sammy and made my way into the crowd, spotting Tank and Ranger leaning against the wall in a dark corner. Every girl in a ten metre radius was blatantly staring at the two hottest men they had ever seen, or else trying to pick them up over their boyfriend's shoulder.

_Sluts._ Sammy grinned at me as if she knew what I was thinking.

"Or maybe you're just jealous Steph."

_Me? Jealous?_ What was she thinking? I wasn't jealous. No. I was just.. 'protecting' Ranger. He needed someone to fight off all the bimbos.

Yeah, that was it. Sammy snorted. _Whatever._

Ranger was dressed in black jeans for once, and a silky cotton long sleeved shirt, which curved with the contours of his body to reveal his extensive muscle. He was leaning against the wall, one foot against it as his dark eyes found us. And froze on us.

Ranger

I stared out at the multitudes of people packed into the club, the girls wearing short slutty dresses and the guys wearing professionally faded jeans and hair that looked at though they had just gotten out of bed. I felt the need to roll my eyes. Jeez, Steph must really be rubbing off on me. I checked my watch for the second time in fifteen minutes. Why weren't they here yet? It was nearly 9:40 and the skip, Marchetta, usually arrived around ten. We needed the girls to get suited up with microphones and run over the arrangements before we made a move on him. But they had somehow escaped before Tank got to them and by the time we had begun to get over the incredible footage we had gotten afterwards, we had found that both the girls' cell phones were off and weren't answering their home phone. Where the hell could they be?

Tank bristled slightly as I checked my watch again, his mouth tight and muscles tensed. Poor Tank hadn't quite recovered his dignity from the afternoon's events, and every so often, one of the guys as they talked over the headsets would joke about it, and I would hear Tank muttering some pretty dark threats. A small smile graced my lips as Cal alluded to the "Gob smacked Goldfish" picture again. Tank shifted angrily against the wall and cracked his knuckles ominously. I had a feeling Cal and Tank would be meeting pretty soon on the fighting mats, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

The strong salsa beat ended and the song changed to a soft pair of guitars playing alone, a soft and strangely seductive melody. The couples on the floor slowed their moves until their hips were in motion together, moving as one, dresses floating as the women spun slowly and returned to their partners shoulder. I felt my foot absently tapping the beat of the guitars as the lights darkened visibly, throwing the dancers into even further darkness.

My eyes flickered over the floor again, just in time to see two women who had just come through the door, moving confidently through the crowd. I felt myself freeze, my eyes unable to look away from one of the women. Walking confidently towards me, head held high with a seductive half smile on her face as she stared straight into my eyes.

Oh my God.

It was Stephanie.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone, I have a surprise for you! Yeah!!! I actually update!! Cue Heart attack from shock. I know. But I just kind of felt the sudden compulsion to write. So I did. Weird I know. There are a couple of other things I have updates but I'm just go with the flow. And please talk to me! I want to know what's happened to you all in the six months I went AWOL. I hope you enjoy it and get a bit of a laugh.

schaefy xxoo

* * *

**_Ranger_**

She was more beautiful than I had ever seen her in my life, and it wasn't the clothes. She looked so... so confident and sure of herself, like she deserved what she had and the respect of everybody in the club. She knew just where she stood and she wasn't going to let anything or anybody change that.

But she looked stunning in the dress she was wearing as well, as I knew every guy in the vicinity was admiring. It was the perfect dress for her, clinging to her beautiful curves before flowing out to accentuate her waist and legs. But It was her eyes that I could not look away from. Surrounded by the black shadow of make up they seem darker and so engaging I could not bear to look away. They held me hostage as she continued towards me, an indescribable intensity which had sprung up between us making me forget there were even other people in the room. She gave me an almost smile as she reached me, as if she knew every thought that had just gone through my head.

"Babe..."

I was lost for words. I was not even thinking of talking. I was entranced.

"Ranger." She said, quietly, that almost smile still lingering around her mouth.

"Babe..."

Silence.

"I think you broke him." That was Sammy. Predictable.

I rolled my eyes and tried to snap out of it.

"Babe, you look...you look..."

"Good?" She said, with a hopeful smile.

"Stunning." I said with a sigh.

"You look nice." Said Tank, grudgingly.

She looked at him drily. "Thanks Tank."

"So where is the sucker?" Sammy.

"Who?..." I said, being again dazzled by Steph.

"Crap, I think you really did break him!" Sammy said, a mock worried look on her face. "Hello?" She waved her hand in front of my eyes, "Anybody home?"

I pulled myself together. Christ this was embarrassing.

"Right, uh, Skip. He'll be here in five minutes, Cal's letting us know when he comes in. These are your microphones," I dropped them into Sammy's hand "And don't forget he's being done for weapons so he's likely to have some on him."

The girls nodded, and wandered off to say hi to the merry men.

"Jeez, Ranger," Tank said, giving me a knowing smile." Steph is totally smokin' tonight, huh?"

"How would you like me to rearrange your face."

Tank became suddenly interested in his shoelaces.

"Got it." He muttered.

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The capture was over within fifteen minutes, Marchetta having arrived on time and the girls charming him in thirty seconds, and leading him to his imminent incarceration. We'd gathered around a bunch of the SUV's for a debrief whi;e Hal and Binkie delivered Marchetta to the police.

"Yo!" Steph said, interrupting the general chatter. All the men looked at her. As if half hadn't already been shooting her covert glances. I clenched my fist.

"I reckon we've done some pretty hard work the last few weeks, as well as some pretty spectacular jokes." Everybody looks at Tank. He stays stone-faced. "So I think we should all make nice and relax with a beer or two. It's a great club with good music and we haven't had a night out together in ages. What do you say?"

Naturally everyone agrees. I bet just to perve on her dress for a couple more hours. I crack my knuckles.

We all head back inside and I catch up with Steph, sliding a hand around her waist and grinning at her.

"What's all this talk of making nice? I was under the impression you and Sammy don't do that kind of thing?"

She gave me a sly smile.

"Unless that thing is just a pretence for a different thing?"

"Ohh, Tanks going to blow your brains out if you touch him, you gotta do this smart."

"Oh, don't worry," She grinned mischievously, "We plan of giving him plenty of drinks first!"

With that she stepped inside the club. With slight trepidation I followed.

Oh boy.

This was going to be big.


	7. Chapter 7

_Stephanie_

I could feel the soft salsa beat pulsing through me as I sat around a table with the guys and Sammy, relaxing on my second Margarita with Rangers thigh warm and firm as he sat close to me. As far as nights on the town go, I'd have to say this was one of the best. The drinks were great, the music was fabulous and the company just made everything perfect. I watched as couples danced on the sunken floor, my body swaying to the infectious beat. It had been a while since I'd danced salsa with someone and it had always been one of my favourite dances.

"Babe." Ranger said, standing and proffering his hand. "Dance with me?"

I was so surprised I nearly fell off my chair.

"You dance?" I said disbelievingly.

"Babe. I'm Batman remember? I can do anything."

Sammy looked almost as shocked as I was as I took his hand and he led me to the edge of the floor in time for the beginning of the new song. It was fast paced, contagious, the kind of music that made me forget everything in the world but dancing with everything I had. Then Ranger pulled me swiftly to him and we began.

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I have to say at this point I had no idea what to expect, except the semi-conscious suspicion that Ranger would never do this if he couldn't do it perfectly.

And boy was I right.

As we began to move our bodies seem to join into one seamless being, our limbs twisted so tightly it was impossible to tell where one finished and the other began. The music was like a drug, dulling my senses as we moved together as one, my hips swaying against his so close I could every movement he made. He twirled me quickly as I matched him step for step, cutting swiftly through the crowd of other dancers until they cleared a space in the centre of the floor for us, watching in awed silence. My face was close to his, snatching brief, fiery kisses when near enough before being torn apart by the passion of the dance. It was the most seductive thing I had ever seen as I stared into Ranger's eyes dilated black, running my fingers through the silky black hair that had at some point lost its leather tie restraint.

As I felt the final notes of the song burst from the band Ranger threw me into a dip, so that I was almost lying over his knee. And then his lips crashed down on mine and the crowd erupted in cheers as we clung to each other. He pulled me upright, his lips still welded to mine before breaking apart from breath. My forehead leaned against his as we stood in the middle of the circle, both breathing hard as our bodies cooled a little.

"Babe... mi Nena. Mi vuelves loco." _Babe... My Babe. You drive me crazy_."

I just kissed him with everything I had.

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_Sammy_

I watched Ranger offer Stephanie his hand from the other side of the table where I sat next to Lester and a grumpy Tank, who had been sending me death glares all night. I rolled my eyes as I listened to Tank mumble half-formed threats under his breath and turned to Lester who was at that point concerned with proving that not only was he the world's biggest ass, but that his ego was so inflated that I was suffocating sitting next to him. He and Cal had negotiated a bet—each had to pick up a girl chosen by the other, and bring her over to meet the rest of the crew. Neither was overly worried about the first part, but the second had them sweating. Not only were we the largest group in the club, but we were composed for the most part of men the size of bears and a look that made anyone quake in their boots.

"Cal, there's no way you're going to win this, I could pick up any chick here simply by looking at her." Lester boasted loudly. I rolled my eyes and slapped him upside the head.

"Lester, one of these days I'm going to knee you so hard that your balls won't compare to a pea." Instantly, Lester moved his hand to cover his jewels, wincing at the thought as Cal howled with laughter.

I ignored them, turning eagerly to watch as Steph and Ranger walked down the steps to the dance floor.

"Ok, ok, I got one," said Cal, still chortling. "You will never, ever, ever in a million years be able to get her. Not a chance my friend." Lester laughed loudly.

"Bring it on asshole! Let's see who's gonna get some Lester Lovin'!"

Cal was shaking with laughter, unable to control himself, so he just pointed. At me.

"SAMMY?" Lester yelled, jumping off his chair. "You can't! That's... That's... She..."

I snapped my attention away from Stephanie and Ranger to turn to the pair of idiots sitting next to me.

"No fair! She's not even a girl—" He stopped, his words strangled by my death glare which would have burned holes right through his had Cal not spoken.

"Hey, I'm giving you an advantage," he smirked. "She's already over here?"

He didn't see my fist as it collided with his cheek, knocking him off his chair. Lester roared with laughter as he sat up holding his face and looking much like Tank had this afternoon—like a goldfish.

"And YOU!" I yelled, turning to advance on Lester who immediately began to cringe away from me.

"I didn't mean it Sammy, it came out wrong! I only meant that you feel like one of the guys—" I backed him up against the wall, my eyes level with his.

"Sammy, you know what I mean, I wasn't thinking—" His hands moved to protect the front of his jeans.

Instead, grinning an evil little smile, I moved forward until I was pressed against him, and ran my hands from his waist over his chest and up to clasp behind his neck. It was his turn for the goldfish impression now, as he stood there, shocked. I touched my lips to his for just a moment, so soft and tender and feather light that I had pulled my face back before he responded. I grinned wider as he attempted to speak, staring at me, inches from his face. I leaned close to his ear, whispering as my lips brushed against his skin.

"Am too a girl." And I pushed away from him, holding my head high and listening to the sound of the other guys killing themselves laughing at Lester frozen against the wall.

Sometimes it was just too easy.

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I grabbed another Margarita from the cute bar tender nearest to me, to find the napkin he gave me had his name and number written on it. Hmm. Interesting. I smiled at him cheekily as I sat on a bar stool and looked out to the dance floor, looking for the only couple I was interested in. I noticed then that a hush had fallen over the club, and that almost everyone there had stopped what they were doing to stare at two people as the danced in the centre of a circle of onlookers, too distracted to do anything but watch.

I have to say, watching Stephanie and Ranger dance was the most sensual thing I had ever seen. They were pressed together so close that not a sliver of light could be seen between them, moving against each other in a way that was not just sexual—it was something more. It was the chemistry you could almost see between them, the electricity which connected them as they stared each other that drew everybody's eyes like a magnet. It was the way his hands worshipped her body, gently moving over her curves as if she were the most precious thing he had ever held. The way her eyes closed in ecstasy whenever she felt his caress.

I saw more than a few guys shifting uncomfortably as they stared at Stephanie, and girls crossing their legs as they stared at Ranger. Even Lester and Cal had stopped their bickering to stare open mouthed as the pair moved across the floor, hypnotised by the gentle sway of her hips to the music.

Then, as Ranger pulled her into a low dip and the music faded, I saw his lips touch hers. The kiss was fierce, passionate, full of the love they shared. I smiled, taking a sip of my drink.

About friggin' time.

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Hey everyone! Tank incident next, I promise... Thanks for waiting for this chapter, I know it's been forever since I updated it?

Please REVIEW. It's the way to my heart.

Schaefy


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